Evaluation of Leanness, Agility and Leagility Extent in Industrial Supply Chain

The focus of Lean Manufacturing (LM) is the cost reduction by eliminating non value added activities (waste i.e. muda) and enabling continuous improvement; whereas, Agile Manufacturing (AM) is an approach which is mainly focused on satisfying the needs of customers while maintaining high standards of quality and controlling the overall costs involved in the production of a particular product. This approach has geared towards companies working in a highly turbulent as well as competitive business environment, where small variations in performance and product delivery can make a huge difference in the long term to a company’s survival and reputation amongst the customers. Leagility is basically the aggregation of lean and agile principles within a total supply chain strategy by effectively positioning the decoupling point, consequently to best suit the need for quick responding to a volatile demand downstream yet providing a level scheduling upstream from the marketplace. A leagile system adapts the characteristics of both lean and agile systems, acting together in order to exploit market opportunities in a cost-efficient way. The present research aims to highlight how these lean, agile as well as leagile paradigms may be adapted according to particular marketplace requirements. Obviously, these strategies are distinctly different, since in the first case, the market winner is cost; whereas, in the second case, the market winner is the availability. Agile supply chains are required to be market sensitive and hence nimble. This means that the definition of waste is different from that appropriate to lean supply. The proper location of decoupling point for material flow and information flow enables a hybrid supply chain to be better engineered. This encourages lean (efficient) supply upstream and agile (effective) supply downstream, thus bringing together the best of both paradigms. While implementing leanness/agility/leagility philosophy in industrial supply chain in appropriate situations, estimation of a unique quantitative performance metric (evaluation index) is felt indeed necessary. Such an index can help the industries to examine existing performance level of leanness/agility/leagility driven supply chain; to compare ongoing performance extent to thedesired/expected one and to benchmark best practices of lean/agile/leagile manufacturing/supply chain, wherever applicable. The present research attempts to assess the extent of leanness, agility as well as leagility, respectively, for an organizational supply chain using fuzzy/grey based Multi- Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches. During this research, different

How Kano’s Performance Mediates Perceived SERVQUAL Impact on Kansei

Through Kansei Engineering (KE) methodology in services, the perceived service quality shows a direct impact on Kansei response. In order to strengthen the KE methodology, Kano model is embedded considering the attractive [A] and one-dimensional [O] performances. However, to what extent the Kano performance brings significant impact on Kansei is questionable and has not been explored yet. It is beneficial to measure the effort spent to improve a certain service attribute, considering the Kano performance and its impact on Kansei. This study on logistics services confirms that the Kano’s attractive category [A] shows the highest impact on Kansei (with loading of 0.502), followed by one-dimensional [O] and must-be [M] ones (with loadings of 0.514 and 0.507), respectively. The service provider should prioritize Kano’s [A] service attributes first for improvement. Keywords - Kano, logistics services, Kansei, SERVQUA

Studies on some aspects of agility appraisement: empirical research and case studies in Indian perspective

The thesis highlights decision-making problems in relation to agility evaluation as well as appraisement of agile enterprises followed be suppliers’ selection in agile supply chain. Various aspects have been covered (i) Supply Chain Agility Appraisement and (ii) Appraisement of Agility in Mass Customized Product Manufacturing (iii) Organizational Agility and Benchmarking of Agile Enterprises, (iv) Interrelationship amongst Agile Capabilities/Enablers, (v) Identification of Agile Barriers etc. Appraisement modules (appraisement index systems) have been proposed utilizing the concept of generalized fuzzy numbers, Interval-Valued Fuzzy Numbers (IVFNs) as well as grey numbers. The study provides in-depth understanding on hierarchical interrelationship amongst various agility dimensions required to assess organizational as well as supply chain agility. Agility appraisement modules have been proposed to perform both in fuzzy as well as grey environment. Agility barriers have been identified as well. The outcome of the empirical research as well as case study conducted in two Indian industries (automotive and railway construction at eastern India) have been critically analyzed. The influence of decision-makers’ risk bearing attitude over agility assessment and related decision-making has also been focused in this work. An efficient fuzzy embedded performance appraisement module has been proposed to facilitate suppliers’ evaluation cum selection process in agile supply chain. There exist a number of agility indices (metrics) that influence the extent of organizational agility. By evaluating these indices, appropriate ranking order of alternative agile enterprises can be determined. This being the basic fundamental of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM), it can effectively be explored towards benchmarking of agile enterprises. Evaluating the candidate agile alternatives and comparing across them, the best practices of the efficient organization can easily be identified and transferred to different organizations. Indian manufacturing industries prefer to maintain status-quo and hardly go for changes (or transformation). However, today’s market compulsion due to liberalization and globalization of demands that manufacturing firms must be agile enough to serve continuously changing unpredicted needs of the customers in an effective manner. The changes in terms of being agile are not easy enough due to several environmental, managerial and technical considerations. Analysis of drivers of agile manufacturing and their interaction with various aspects in integrative planning can be a valuable source of information to the decision-makers (DMs) for its successful implementation. In doing so, the managers can derive important insights into the problem and explore the said drivers efficiently to overcome those obstacles. Agility evaluation problem can be viewed as a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) problem involving qualitative as well as quantitative evaluation criterions. Quantitative criterions (attributes) can be tackled by traditional tools and approaches. Difficulty arises in dealing with subjective qualitative selection criterions. In this thesis, fuzzy logic (as well as grey theory) has been proposed to tackle decision-makers’ subjective information/judgment in relation to agility appraisement and related decision-making vi problems. Literature is rich enough in addressing various decision-modeling problems using generalized fuzzy numbers; therefore, fruitful incorporation of Interval-Valued Fuzzy Numbers theory and grey theory definitely added value (contribution) pursued in data analysis (empirical as well as case studies) in this thesis. Use of ‘Fuzzy Degree of Similarity’ concept in identifying weak (ill-performing) areas (called agile barriers) in an agile supply chain appears to be a unique contribution in this work

Global seaport competitiveness: a resource management perspective

Seaport investment is lumpy, entails a long gestation period and has been referred to as a sunk cost. While seaport infrastructures have long been recognized to be a contributor of seaport performance, research on seaport competitiveness, a popular theme among mainstream maritime studies, has not directed sufficient efforts to understand the role of resource management in building seaport competitiveness. Instead, the dominant focus has been on seaport location, productivity and efficiency, price, connectivity, and organization. The manner in which global seaports manage their capital-intensive resources to develop contingent dynamic capacities and capabilities to confront the changing dynamics in the maritime market has not been systematically examined. Using a qualitative multiple case study approach, this study traces the developmental paths of three geo-politically distinctive global seaports - Dubai, Kaohsiung, and Rotterdam - to examine how they achieved competitive advantages since the advent of containerization. Drawing on the tenets of resource-based view, organization learning, dynamic capability and contingency theories, this research reviewed and interpreted the planned actions of the three seaports from the perspective of resource structuring, bundling and leveraging to develop constructs of strategic resource management. From the strategic actions taken by the three case seaports, the study identifies eight resource management constructs couched within four basic capability building blocks that were instrumental in helping them to achieve, and maintain, their global competitiveness: a capital-intensive regime of developing logistics support infrastructure, a parallel program of utilizing resources in a complementary manner, a dynamically agile capability of coupling, de-coupling, and recoupling to renew resource utilization efficiency in response to external changes (regional market dynamics, industry trends), and a capability of re-orienting the use of tangible assets as an exit strategy to develop intangible resources to adapt to unfolding events. The judicious blend of the eight resource management constructs underpins the developmental paths of the three case seaports as they navigated the environmental contingencies posed by the dynamics of the regional competition they faced against the backdrop of the size of their hinterland and foreland. Offering a fresh perspective on understanding how global seaports compete by developing contingent dynamic capabilities, this study presents six working propositions, opening an avenue for building a theory of global seaport competitiveness based on seaport resource management

An Investigation of Airline Catering Supply Chain Processes, Performance and Practices using SCOR Model

Supply chain management is critical to airlines' ability to provide high-quality in-flight dining experience to passengers. Managing airline catering supply chain can be complex and difficult because the chain frequently delivers a large volume of airline meals, manages the resulting reverse flow, and is required to meet performance requirements, often under uncertainty. This thesis delves into the business processes of airline catering supply chains, develops performance metrics for the chain, and proposes an approach for improving the chain's practice effectiveness. The thesis is divided into three main areas of study known as research projects, which are based on the portfolio of research work completed during the study. In this thesis, the supply chain operations reference (SCOR) model is used as the reference model for airline catering supply chain. The SCOR model is generic and provides a common definition of business processes, metrics, and best practices for supply chain evaluation. The model must be adapted to fit different industry settings. SCOR-based approaches to improving airline catering supply chain effectiveness have been developed in the thesis, by selecting the appropriate supply chain processes, performance metrics, and practices that are essential to the airline catering service. The first project adapts the SCOR model to create a framework and reference models for integrated business processes regarding the airline catering supply chain. The relevant standard processes were chosen from the SCOR model and expanded to define the specific workflow of airline catering logistics using Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) techniques. As a result, a hierarchical process structure is defined, including how the SCOR framework's processes of source, make, and deliver map to the airline catering supply chain process. The second project is concerned with selecting performance metrics for airline catering supply chain. In adapting SCOR performance metrics for airline catering supply chains, a method of selecting performance metrics for the chain is presented. A set of 55 relevant metrics is identified from the SCOR model and prioritised using the MoSCoW based prioritisation method. Results of the prioritisation show that an emergency, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can influence performance considerations, including the selection of appropriate performance metrics. Finally, the third project focuses on practice effectiveness. It develops a SCOR based methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of airline catering supply chain practices and identifying weak performing practices. The methodology incorporates relevant supply chain practices, practice categories, and performance attributes adapted from SCOR. The methodology uses fuzzy logic, and it is applied in this thesis to a case study of a large airline catering supply chain. The case study company is found to operate highly effective practice, and areas requiring further improvements were recommended. The thesis demonstrates that the airline catering supply chain must pay attention to business processes, performance metric selection, and seek to continuously improve practice effectiveness. The methods and models developed in the thesis will help airline catering supply chains in all three areas. Insights from the chosen case study are valuable. Research limitations are identified, and future directions are suggested

Abordagem analítica à segmentação da cadeia de abastecimento

Mestrado em Engenharia e Gestão IndustrialO tema da definição de estratégia da cadeia de abastecimento está a ganhar importância e não existe uma estratégia ideal. Consequentemente, de forma a ganhar vantagem competitiva sustentável as organizações devem escolher as estratégias de abastecimento mais adequadas tendo em conta as características quer da procura quer dos produtos alinhando a oferta com a procura. Para a definição do foco da tese, é feito um estudo bibliometrico da literatura. De seguida, definiu-se uma sequência de passos para a segmentação da cadeia de abastecimento e sua consequente aplicação num caso de estudo, uma empresa alimentar B2B. O estudo exploratório contribui com uma série de ideias originais: Uma nova variável de classificação é proposta, uma análise de produtos com base nos componentes comuns, e finalmente, uma nova abordagem às compras baseada nas características da procura. Tudo isto permite uma abordagem prática à segmentação ao longo de toda a cadeia de abastecimento.O tema da definição de estratégia da cadeia de abastecimento está a ganhar importância e não existe uma estratégia ideal. Consequentemente, de forma a ganhar vantagem competitiva sustentável as organizações devem escolher as estratégias de abastecimento mais adequadas tendo em conta as características quer da procura quer dos produtos alinhando a oferta com a procura. Para a definição do foco da tese, é feito um estudo bibliometrico da literatura. De seguida, definiu-se uma sequência de passos para a segmentação da cadeia de abastecimento e sua consequente aplicação num caso de estudo, uma empresa alimentar B2B. O estudo exploratório contribui com uma série de ideias originais: Uma nova variável de classificação é proposta, uma análise de produtos com base nos componentes comuns, e finalmente, uma nova abordagem às compras baseada nas características da procura. Tudo isto permite uma abordagem prática à segmentação ao longo de toda a cadeia de abastecimento

Incorporating declared capacity uncertainty in optimizing airport slot allocation

Slot allocation is the mechanism used to allocate capacity at congested airports. A number of models have been introduced in the literature aiming to produce airport schedules that optimize the allocation of slot requests to the available airport capacity. A critical parameter affecting the outcome of the slot allocation process is the airport’s declared capacity. Existing airport slot allocation models treat declared capacity as an exogenously defined deterministic parameter. In this presentation we propose a new robust optimization formulation based on the concept of stability radius. The proposed formulation considers endogenously the airport’s declared capacity and expresses it as a function of its throughput. We present results from the application of the proposed approach to a congested airport and we discuss the trade-off between the declared capacity of the airport and the efficiency of the slot allocation process

Rethinking the risk matrix

So far risk has been mostly defined as the expected value of a loss, mathematically PL (being P the probability of an adverse event and L the loss incurred as a consequence of the adverse event). The so called risk matrix follows from such definition. This definition of risk is justified in a long term “managerial” perspective, in which it is conceivable to distribute the effects of an adverse event on a large number of subjects or a large number of recurrences. In other words, this definition is mostly justified on frequentist terms. Moreover, according to this definition, in two extreme situations (high-probability/low-consequence and low-probability/high-consequence), the estimated risk is low. This logic is against the principles of sustainability and continuous improvement, which should impose instead both a continuous search for lower probabilities of adverse events (higher and higher reliability) and a continuous search for lower impact of adverse events (in accordance with the fail-safe principle). In this work a different definition of risk is proposed, which stems from the idea of safeguard: (1Risk)=(1P)(1L). According to this definition, the risk levels can be considered low only when both the probability of the adverse event and the loss are small. Such perspective, in which the calculation of safeguard is privileged to the calculation of risk, would possibly avoid exposing the Society to catastrophic consequences, sometimes due to wrong or oversimplified use of probabilistic models. Therefore, it can be seen as the citizen’s perspective to the definition of risk